Butterfingered Pakistan let India into final

India 9/260 (50 ov, Tendulkar 85, Wahab Riaz 5/46) beat Pakistan 231 (49.5 ov, Misbah-ul- Haq 56) by 29 runs: CWC 2011 semifinal #2 at Mohali. India will play Sri Lanka in final.

Sachin Tendulkar has played many better innings than his 85/115b (11x4) but few of such value to his team and country. Without it Pakistan would probably have won.

It was also a very lucky innings: dropped four times and reprieved by the Umpire Decision Review Scheme when he looked to many people, though not Hawkeye, to be lbw.

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How Pakistan scraped home in T2: an eyewitness account

Pakistan 258 & 7/180 (50.4 ov, Imran Farhat 67, Azhar Ali 51, B Hilfenhaus 3/39, D Bollinger 3/51) def Australia 88 and 349 by 3 wickets. T2 D3 at Headingley, Leeds. Series tied 1 all.

A friend of mine (a Yorkshire and England supporter) was at Headingley for the last day of the Test. Here's his report:

Just back from Headingley after a 2 1/2 round trip to watch an hour's worth of cricket..... decent cricket, mind you, and well worth the trip.

Hilfenhaus and Bollinger were on fire and, whilst Mitchell Johnson bowled well in his one-and-a-bit overs, if I'd have been Ponting, I'd have kept Bollinger on until the result was known. There would have been plenty of time to have a rest in the changing rooms this afternoon, whatever the result. The Aussies didn't give up and placed an attacking field with three slips, gully, point, short midwicket, mid-on, mid off..... only the fine leg was outside the "circle".

Bollinger had two decent lbw appeals turned down, a catch to point that could have carried (advantage batsman) and a slip catch where everyone in the East Stand heard the snick but the umpire didn't.

Had any of those gone for for the Baggy Greens, the outcome might have been more interesting - and when was the last time a team scoring 88 runs first went on to win a Test match?!

I can assure you that Pakistan were hanging on for grim death at the end and the relief amongst the players and the scant but partisan crown was plain for all to see.

The Aussies can feel proud following today's performance but what a shame the batsmen let them down so badly on day one.

So there were are.......for me Bollinger looks a class act - where's he been all this time - whilst Hilfenhaus looked solid and bowled well, too. Ponting, as ever, the master-captain. I would not write off Australia for the Ashes just yet.

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Cricinfo Bulletin

Fox Sports Report with link to video highlights.

Nailbiting finish should be unlikely as Pakistan need 40 with 7 wickets in hand to win T2

Pakistan 258 & 3/140 (37 ov, Imran Farhat 67) need another 40 runs to beat Australia 88 and 349 (95.3 ov, S Smith 77, M Clarke 77, R Ponting 66, Mohammad Aamer 4/86): T2 D3 at Headingley, Leeds.

A fascinating day of Test cricket, with some limited over passages of play. What made it especially fascinating was that it was Pakistan, not Australia, who won most of the skirmishes. Victory is now within their reach: to grasp it they need to score 40 more runs without losing 7 wickets.

Ricky Ponting added only five to his overnight total and his departure for 66/116b (7x4) put Australia even further in strife at 3/144. While Michael Clarke looked sound neither Mike Hussey nor Marcus North lasted long against Mohammad Aamer, who again bowled beautifully. The vice-captain and Tim Paine wiped off the deficit and began to stir Australian fantasies, but at 217 Clarke was out for a commendable though in the circumstances - because a substantial century was needed from him - disappointing 77/143b (7x4). Tim Paine looked solid in making 33/84b (5x4) but he holed out to a short ball from Danish Kaniera when a fifty looked likely.

7/246 was palpably inadequate but fortunately Steve Smith chanced his arm and eye and led the lower order (tail is too patronising a term for them after their performances in this series) to 349 all out, leaving Pakistan to make 180.

Smith's 77/100b (9x4, 2x6) was an adaptation of his T20 style to Test cricket; He didn't play and miss much but chose his balls to hit and hit them hard. Spectacular, and it brought Australia back into the match, maybe not to favouritism but certainly to competitiveness.

When they began the chase the Australian bowlers bowled with a good measure of fire but again lacked accuracy. Yet it was Shane Watson's dropping of Imran Farhat at first slip - the sort of thing often associated with Pakistan in a tight situation - which took some of the wind out of Australia's sails. Salman Butt fell to Ben Hilfenhaus but Farhat and Azhar Ali added 110 for the second wicket Doug Bollinger bowled Farhat and had Umar Amin caught behind for a duck.

1/137 to 3/140 in most other Pakistan Test innings would presage disaster, but when the total is only 180 and the Australian attack has toiled honestly but without a sharp edge I can't see how that could (or will) happen.

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Cricinfo Bulletin (with clumsy headline "Pakistan close in on rare Aussie victory")

Fox Sports Report with link to video highlights,

Australia batting folds as Pakistan bowlers exploit conditions: T2 D1

Pakistan 3/148 (39 ov) lead Australia 88 (33.1 ov) by 60 runs on first innings: T2/ D1 Headingley, Leeds

If you'd predicted before play started that one team would, after the first day's play in T2, have a lead of 60 with seven first innings wickets in hand almost everyone would have thought you were very wide of the mark (and the form guide), but that if it, or anything like it, did happen it would be Australia, not the supposedly dysfunctional Pakistan, in that position. Wrong.

The atmosphere was, as for the first few days at Lord's, conducive to swing bowling. The Pakistan bowlers exploited it well brilliantly. Simon Katich didn't reprise his Lord's anchorman role, nor did anyone else step into his shoes after he was first out at 20, what turned out to be the highest partnership of an Australian batting meltdown .

Mohammad Aamer 11-4 - 20 -3, Mohammad Amin 10.1 - 1- 30 -3 and Umar Gul 9-3-16-2 used the conditions most effectively ( and even part-timer Umar Amin chipped in with 1/7 from 2 overs) Their accuracy and movement troubled all the Australians, who looked collectively and individually out of sorts (and form).

There's no avoiding the unpalatable fact that the captain, vice-captain, Mr Cricket and the senior pro (Katich) were all out before lunch after contributing 19 between them.

6/73 at lunch was poor enough yet Mohammad Aamer snuffed out any hope of an Australian revival with the first two balls after the interval when he bowled Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson (and wasn't far off claiming a hat trick with his third)

Pakistan didn't fall apart with the bat either, though the Australian bowling, apart from Shane Watson's two late wickets, lacked the accuracy and nip to keep them under pressure. While Pakistan has a reputation for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory it'll require a turnabout like the one six months ago at Sydney for Australia to win from here.


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Cricinfo Bulletin

Fox Sports Report with link to video highlights.

Update 22 July (before start of D2 play)

Many commentators have made much of the fact that Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat instead of putting Pakistan in. I haven't because, as far as I can tell from watching the highlights on Foxtel (confession: I went to bed soon after the Pakistan innings began), there wasn't much change in the conditions between the two innings, There may have been a liilte more sunshine but the fundamental truth is that the Pakistan bowlers bowled more accurately than did the Australians and reaped the rewards.

Australia North Pakistan south in T#1

Australia 253 and 334 beat Pakistan 148 and 289 (91.1 ov, Salman Butt 92, M North 6-55, S Smith 3-51) by 150 runs: T#1/2 D4 at Lord's Australia lead series 1-0.

A glance at the scorecard suggests a comfortable win for Australia, the Cricinfo Bulletin
described it as "massive", but I thought it was closer than either of those assessments.

Pakistan, led by Salman Butt's doughty 92/173b (15x4) and supported by solid performances from the top seven, with the exception of the captain whose crossbat swipe saw him well caught on the boundary for 2/4b, fought hard. Australia's front line bowlers didn't sweep all before them. After Ben Hilfenhaus removed Azhar Ali (whose ability I'd privately questioned) for a gutsy 42/87b (4x4) Tim Paine's stumping of Butt off Marcus North's first ball of the innings tipped the psychological balance in Australia's favour though Pakistan - or most of the team - didn't throw in the towel.

North, whose bowling role in the team has fluctuated between Hobson's choice spinner and occasional part-timer, became the unlikely destroyer with 6/55 from 18.1 overs (1m). His name will be added, along with Shane Watson's, to the Lord's honour board. That Shane Warne hasn't qualified shows the limitations (absurdity?) of judging players by performances at one ground. (North is now the third occasional/ part-time bowler in this team to take 6 wickets in a Test innings.)

Steve Smith, who'd taken the only wicket on D3, bowled a tidy spell. He doesn't spin the ball as much as Warnie but should keep improving. His 3/51 will probably have more long term benefits for Australian Test cricket though it was North who provided the generous margin of victory and perhaps (though this is drawing a long bow) even the victory itself.

A word about Ricky Ponting. Another poor match with the bat at Lord's (see comment above) but a good - very good - decision to opt to bowl North ahead of Smith.

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Cricinfo Bulletin

Fox Sports report with link to video highlights.

Pakistan batting keeps them in with a chance after Aust tail wags T1 D3

Pakistan 148 & 1/114 (37 ov, Salman Butt 58*) need 326 more runs to beat Australia 253 & 334 ( S Katich 83, B Hilfenhaus 56*,Umar Gul 4-61) T#1/2 D3 at Lord's.

Australia should win, but will they? A better second innings was founded on yet another underpinning by Simon Katich 83/174b (14x4) and the unexpected bonus of a maiden Test 50 (and highest first class score) by Ben Hilfenhaus 56*/84b (6x4, 1x6). Tim Paine compiled 47/85b (3x4) , while each of the other middle and lower order batters - Mitchell Johnson , Marcus North, Steve Smith and Doug Bollinger- reached double figures.

The sun came out so it's fair to say that conditions favoured batting, and it wasn't only Australia who benefited.

The Pakistan second innings batting to date has made their 440 - now 326 - target look not so much impossible (as history suggests) as unlikely. Salman Butt 58*/118b (9x4)is looking good (as he usually does) and solidly determined (as he often does). The first session on D4 will be very interesting. If the outcome of the match isn't pretty clear by lunch then Australia will be in trouble. Which isn't to say that they'll lose (only that I may have to stay up and watch more play).

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Cricinfo Bulletin

Fox Sports report with link to video highlights.

Watson's bowling (not batting) gives Australia edge T2D2

Australia 253 (S Katich 80, M Hussey 56*, Mohammad Aamer 4/72) and 4/100 (29.3 ov, S Katich 49*) lead Pakistan 148 (40.5 ov, Salman Butt 63, S Watson 5/40) by 205 runs with 6 second inns wkts left: T#1/2 D2 at Lord's.

Shane Warne observed, a tad ruefully, from the TV commentary box that he'd never taken more than 4 wickets in an innings in a Lord's Test. He did give due credit to Shane Watson, nowadays billed as an opening bat who bowls a bit, for (my words) throwing away the script and demolishing the Pakistan middle order with 5/40 from 7.5 overs.

Only some stern resistance from Salman Butt 63/94b (12x4) and a characteristic T20 style 31/15b (4x4, 2x6) from captain Shahid Afridi (playing his first Test for 4 years) took Pakistan to 148 after Australia's last pair had taken the teams total to 253.

105 looked a very good lead in the situation, but the first two days been played in quintessentially English conditions, an irony which some of the players on each side would appreciate. Of course quintessentially English conditions aren't always present even in that country's high mid summer so if the sun really comes out, who knows what might happen. Not everyone would agree with the Fox Sports report headline "Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul keep Pakistan in Test with late wickets" but IMO it's not too far fetched.

Let's hope for a full day's play. If that happens the match could well be decided today.

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Cricinfo Bulletin

Fox Sports report with link to video highlights.

Pakistan gain edge as Tuesday Test starts

Australia 9/229 (70 ov, S Katich 80) v Pakistan, T1/2 D1 at Lord's

Security considerations have determined that Pakistan are the nominal home team for this two match series which began on Tuesday (is this the first time that a Test match - at least one involving Australia - has begun on that day of the week?)

To my surprise, the Pakistan bowlers generally bowled as if they'd played most of their cricket in England, so well did they use the conditions at Lord's after Shahid Afridi won the toss and (as they say nowadays) "chose to field" .

Mohammad Aameer (18-2-66-3) and Mohammad Asif (17-5-53-3) kept Australia in check for much of the short day. The former took the crucial early wickets of Shane Watson and an out of sorts (by his standards) looking Ricky Ponting, while the latter broke the only substantial partnership on the stroke of tea when he had Michael Clarke lbw for a measured 47/77b (8x4). He followed up soon after the interval when he had Simon Katich caught behind for a characteristically gritty 80/138 (9x4) and then bowled Marcus North for a duck.

2/171 thus became 5/174, and it didn't improve as Umar Gul put Tim Paine out of his misery and Danish Kaneria removed Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson, from both of whom good things with the bat had been expected, cheaply. Mike Hussey is hanging in there for 39*/75b (5x4, 1x6) but from this position even 250 would look a good score.

If the conditions continue to be bowler-friendly Australia may not be as perilously positioned as they appear to be at the moment. If the rain forecast for each of the next few days materialises then a draw can't be ruled out, either.


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Cricinfo Bulletin.

Fox Sports report with link to video highlights.

West Indies make captain's ODI series prediction look shaky

Now that the Pakistan tour is over with the visitors failing to win a match, though they came close in the T20 International, the West Indies have returned for the short form leg of their visit.

Chris Gayle's prediction of a 4-1 ODI series result to his team looks shaky, very shaky, after a professional Australia won ODI#1 by 113 runs in Melbourne: 8/256 from 50 ov v 143 from only 34.2 ov . West Indies seem to lack the depth to be able to challenge the home team for more than a few overs. Of course many of us thought the same after the First Test.

There has been some media comment about the small crowd of 25,000 or so, and comparisons have been drawn wirth the 60,000 who attended the T20 game v Pakistan on Friday. Yes, a big difference, but a good total, and in any event what do you expect when two internationals are scheduled at the same ground a day apart?

It will be interesting to see how many turn up here in Adelaide tomorrow for ODI#2: it's a working day and hot weather is forecast.

Still no joy for Pakistan despite good showing by U19s

At Perth Australia won ODI#4 by 135 runs 8/277 to 142, rubbing salt into Pakistan's already considerable wounds and taking a 4-0 lead in the series with one match to play.

Ryan Harris, playing only his third ODI, bettered his 5/43 on Tuesday with an outstanding 5/19 from 9.5 overs. Not surprisingly he won another Player of the Match award and reminded me of how foolish South Australia were to let him go off to Queensland.

It was a much closer game at Lincoln New Zealand where Australia won the Under 19 World Cup by 25 runs 9/207 to 182. Both teams fielded several players with first class experience, eg Josh Hazelwood of NSW, who took 4/30. One of the Australians also sported a haircut reminiscent of Andrew Symonds at an earlier stage of his career.

Australia to meet Pakistan in World Cup Final....Under 19 that is

I've been away for a few days and haven't watched much of the Australia - Pakistan ODI series, which Australia now leads 3-0 with two games to play. Pakistan have, as they did in the Test series, had their moments but have not sustained, or been allowed to sustain, their efforts.

In ODI#1 at the Gabba the margin was 5 wickets , thanks to a Cameron White century, in #2 at the SCG 140 runs as the Pakistan batting folded, while yesterday game#3 here in Adelaide a 40 run margin perhaps flattered Pakistan, whose top order batting was again inconsistent.

Disappointed as they must feel Pakistan do have something to look forward to in a broader context and in the immediate future: on Saturday they will appear in the Final of the 2010 Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand.

They will play Australia, who today scraped into the Final by virtue of a 2 wicket win against Sri Lanka : 8/206 vs 205. I watched much of the game on Foxtel (a pat on the back to them for telecasting it). The Sri Lankans looked finished at 5/32 but managed to recover to 205: not bad though not a matchwinning total it seemed. Yet Australia, who themselves looked brittle at 5/93 against a varied Sri Lankan attack (9 bowlers were used) , would not have passed it without Mitchell Marsh's 97/110b (12x4), Tom Triffitt's 50/70b (2x4) and, not least, some nailbiting moments as nos 9 and 10 negotiated 12 consecutive dot balls before seeing their team home.

A great game, and yet another demonstration of how good the 50 over a side game can be.

If you can watch the Final on Saturday: if it's half as good as today's game it'll be well worth doing so.

Australia 3 Pakistan 0

Australia 8/519 & 5/219 defeated Pakistan 301 & 206 (86.2 ov, Khurram Manzoor 77) by 231 runs T3 D5 at Hobart. Australia won series 3-0.

Pakistan resisted today for another 50 overs, selling their last 6 wickets dearly though nowhere near expensively enough to cause Australia much concern. Khurram Manzoor was particularly obdurate: his 77/239b (8x4) kept the game going beyond the lunch interval, when a little of the forecast rain fell, into the afternoon session. For the victors Peter Siddle 15.7-7-25-3 gained some reward at last for this season's Test labours while Nathan Hauritz 17-6-30-3 continued his good form.

This series, for all the excitement of the second Test, was disappointing. Pakistan, as they always seem to do when they tour here, failed to demonstrate a large chunk of their undoubted potential. Australia were clearly the better side but I doubt whether they were extended by their opponents' shortcomings. In other words, they need tougher opposition. England, next summer's tourists, should, despite their series loss in South Africa, provide this whether New Zealand in NZ or Pakistan again in England will, I doubt.

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Rain best chance of saving Pakistan: T3 D4

Pakistan 301 & 4/103 (34.2 ov) need another 335 runs with 6 wickets in hand to beat Australia 8/519d & 5/219d (48.4 ov, S Katich 100, R Ponting 89) T3 D4 at Hobart.

A day's play that contained few surprises. Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting added 191 for the second wicket: Katich stroked a fluent 100/138 b (13x4) and outscored Ponting, who was nevertheless in good touch before he was, after a refrerral, adjudged caught behind off part-timer Shoaib Malik for 89/122b(12x4) A late pre-declaration flourish saw wickets surrendered in the interests of the match (and perhaps future weather) situation.

Needing to bat for a day and a half or. less probably (though not impossibly on the Bellerive wicket) score 438 runs Pakistan then struggled to 4/103 before rain intervened.

The match has thus gone into a fifth day. Pakistan will hope that play then is curtailed, not by their batting meltdown but by the weather.


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One good session for Pakistan though Aust still in command: T3 D3

Australia 8/519d & 1/59 (18 ov) lead Pakistan 301(105.4 ov, Salman Butt 102, Shoaib Malik 58) by 27 runs with 9 second innings wkts in hand: T3 D3 at Hobart.

Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik showed the more resolute side of Pakistan cricket as they batted throughout the first session without being separated. They continued in this vein after lunch until at 213 Simon Katich removed Butt for 102/334b (17x4). This started another collapse as Katich and Nathan Hauritz, who snared Malik 58/144b (10x4), worked their way through the remainder. Only a last wicket stand of 53 pulled them over the 300 line.

A 218 run deficit on first innings was not enough to avoid the possibility of being asked to follow on, though Australia not surprisingly decided to bat again and, after losing Shane Watson early batted out the day comfortably.

By no means a memorable day's play, but a more competitive one, which was sorely needed after D2 Welcome as the Pakistan batting resistance was, for me. Simon Katich's 3/34 from 10 overs of slow left arm wrist spin (is it still acceptable to describe the style as "chinaman"?) was the highlight of the day. I was under the impression that Katich's bowling days were behind him, so it was good to see him return to the crease and even better to see him break the troublesome 5th wicket partnership and take two further wickets. A pity this came at the end of the Test part of the season.

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Australia flourish, Pakistan crumble

Pakistan 4/94 (35 ov) trail Australia 8/519 (142.5 ov, R Ponting 209, M Clarke 166) by 425 runs with 6 first inns wkts in hand: T3 D2 at Hobart.

What a one-sided day. Even more so than D1.

The match thus far has revealed a yawning chasm between the teams. caused as much if not more by deficiencies in Pakistan's ability, application and cohesion as by Australia's demonstrated strengths in those and other areas.

This is not to diminish the magnificent contribution of the 4th wicket stand of 352 between Ricky Ponting 209/354b (25x4) and Michael Clarke 166/328b (19x4) which enabled Australia to build on an already solid position. On the other hand Pakistan, as two run outs in the last part of the day which took the score from a shaky though not irretrievable 2/72 to a very brittle 4/94 attested, seemed to throw in the towel.

Pakistan's wilting under pressure yet again was most disappointing. It wasn't so much their failure to dismiss Australia for less than 400 (or 450 or even 500) but more the loss of those last two wickets. They can, and I hope will must, do bring this match back from the abyss of one-sidedness which reminds us that, recent matches notwithstanding, one sided Test cricket will give more ammunition to the advocates of the shorter forms of the game.

I concede that I've not done justice to the quality of Ponting and Clarke's batting, but if you can watch the highlights.

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Update 16 January

As if Pakistan doesn't have enough problems on the field captain Mohammad Yousuf aired them off the field after the day's play, as ABC Grandstand (which includes an audio link to his interview) and Cricinfo report. Read beyond the ABC's headline "Yousuf preaches unity under pressure" and you may agree with me that the team is almost beyond redemption . For the sake of this match, and even more so Pakistan cricket, I hope I'm wrong.

Captain rides luck & with deputy leads Australia to strong position

Australia 3/320 (90 ov, R Ponting 137*, M Clarke 111*) v Pakistan; T3 D1 at Hobart.

Well as Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke batted for their respective 137*/240b (17x4) and 111*/223b (11x4) the fact that Pakistan fielded below parklands standard at crucial moments - especially one crucial moment - left me feeling disappointed at the waste of their opportunities, not to mention talent. Perhaps they were distracted, as I was on occasion today, by the continually developing news of the earthquake in Haiti .

Ricky Ponting, who's just been IMO deservedly voted (by a jury of 38) as Cricinfo's Player of the Decade, played a lofted pull shot and should, deservedly, have been caught in the deep by Mohammad Aamer off Mohammad Asif for a duck. But he wasn't.

For a time Pakistan persisted and, despite rueing the chance of having Australia 2/34, fought back to take the real second wicket at 52 and the third at 71. Thereafter Ponting and Clarke gradually imposed their authority on proceedings, staying together for the last two sessions, adding 231 and in doing so landing a series of heavy blows on Pakistan. Whether these amount to a knockout remains to be seen.

What can be said about Pakistan's folding fielding? I'm at a loss for words so will just link to Cricifo's Osman Samiuddin (who despite his veneer of stoicism must be near his wit's end).

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Australia [cliche deleted] v Pakistan T2 D4

Australia 127 & 381 (125.3 ov, M Hussey 134*, S Watson 97, Danish Kaneria 5/151) beat Pakistan 333 & 139 (38.0 ov, N Hauritz 5/53) by 36 runs: T2 D3 at Sydney.


I was wrong again. As were most other commentators. Australia's determination trumped Pakistan's intermittent flair and underlying lack of self-belief.

There were two distinct phases of the day's play. In the first Mike Hussey and Peter Siddle moved sensibly, taking advantage of some defensive field placings and another missed catch at the wicket, from 8/286, effectively 8/80, past 318, when Hussey brought up his century in 195b (14x4), then a further 20 wicketless overs to 8/373 ( Hussey 127*, Siddle 37*) at lunch.

Pakistan's fortunes revived after the interval as Siddle fell for a determined 38/117b (2x4) and Bollinger followed soon after leaving Hussey unbeaten on 134/284b (16x4).

The second phase was Pakistan's attempt to make 176 for victory. For a time it was edge of the seat stuff as the openers put on 34 before Doug Bollinger dismissed Imran Farhat. Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal took the total to 51 before Mitchell Johnson had them both caught behind, Iqbal straightforwardly, Butt brilliantly by Brad Haddin whose keeping generally showed up the shortcomings of his opposite number.

Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Gul, Pakistan's best pair, came together and took the score to 3/77, including taking 12 off a Nathan Hauritz over, at tea. Anybody's game.

Ricky Ponting opted to continue with Hauritz after the interval. The captain's judgment, so much of which had been questioned throughout the match, was vinidcated when Yousuf belted a return catch to the bowler. Two balls later Misbah-ul-Haq fell.

At 5/77 it looked to be game over, though the brothers Akmal hung around for a while, Umar shepherding his older sibling through a 26 and Mohammad Sami through a 30 run partnership

The Australian bowlers persisted taking advantage of the brittle Pakistan lower order (the pitch was still playing well). Bollinger 2/32 from 12, Johnson 3/27 from 10, and Hauritz 5/53 from 12 overs (his second ever Test and first class 5 wickets in an innings haul in successive Tests) were too good.

Mike Hussey deservedly won the Player of the Match Award. He admitted that he was lucky to be missed three times behind the stumps but te fact remains that he rode his luck extremely well. He is definitely not yet finished as a Test batsman.

It's difficult to explain why Pakistan fell apart on D4 (and late on D3). For a perspective from their side see Osman Samiuddin on Cricinfo .

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Pakistan's day ...again: T2 D2

Pakistan 9/331 (96 ov, Salman Butt 71, Imran Farhat 53) lead Australia 127 by 204 runs with 1 first inns wkt in hand: T2 D2 at SCG.

Pakistan produced an impressive batting performance founded on a solid 108 run opening stand btween Salman Butt 71/164b (9x4) and Imran Farhat 53/140 (4x4). Then cameo innings from Mohammad Yousuf 46/56b (8x4) and wonder boy Umar Akmal 49/48b (9x4) gave Australia more cause for concern. But the middle and lower order didn't contribute much, which has prompted some of the TV and radio pundits, notably Kerry O'Keefe, to contemplate a possible Pakistan meltdown in the last three days.

While a major Australian recovery is not impossible, this looks like wishful thinking, a she'll be right mate back projection from the not long gone golden days of Australian cricket when a first innings deficit, even a 200 run one, was a spur to higher and better things.

These past two days several points have become pretty well self-evident . One is that the Australian attack is essentially composed of honest toilers. Another is that the Pakistan batting has shifted up a couple of gears: while the tail may be brittle the specialists are capable of scoring a lot of runs, even in the fourth innings on a wearing pitch.

If Australia are to win from here it's hard to see them doing so without taking advantage of a fourth and fifth day wicket, If this does happen will the many commentators** who condemned Ricky Ponting's decision to bat see the error of their ways or at least the irony of the situation?

Update 5 January

** Shane Warne a perceptive exception.



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Pakistan's day: T2 D1

Pakistan 0/14 (4.1 ov) trail Australia 127 ( 44.2 ov, Mohammad Asif 6/41) on first innings by 113 runs; T2 D1 at SCG.

From a comprehensive defeat in Melbourne sunshine to a dominant first day in overcast Sydney. What a turnaround in form for Pakistan (and Australia).

After a start delayed by drizzle Mohammad Asif, 6/41 from 20 ov, and Mohammad Sami, 3/27 from 12, used the green pitch and overcast conditions well to trouble Australia, who had chosen to bat after winning the toss (Pakistan would have fielded). Phillip Hughes was dropped at slip off the first ball he faced but still didn't get off the mark, Ricky Ponting was out first ball to an agricultural version of his favourite pull shot while Shane Watson, who'd looked relatively composed, was caught behind for 6.

Australia never recovered from 3/10, though Mike Hussey hung around for 28, Mitchell Johnson slogged 38 and added 44 for the 8th wkt with Nathan Hauritz. 127 was better than had looked likely at one point but, even making some allowance for the conditions, it was a below par effort.

Just how much below par remains to be seen. Pakistan's batting mettle will, weather permitting, be tested tomorrow. They will be looking for a lead of 100 or so to maintain their advantage over an Australian team which surely can't bat as badly in the second innings as it did today.

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Two wickets in first over seal Pakistan's fate: T1 D5

Australia 5/454 d & 8/225 d beat Pakistan 258 and 251 (72ov, Mohammad Yousuf 61, N Hauritz 5/101) bt 170 runs: T1 D5 at MCG.

Pakistan were never in the hunt after losing Umar Gul and Misbah-Ul-Haq to successive Mitchell Johnson balls in the first over of the morning. Captain Mohammad Younus tried to put a less bad face on impending defeat with 61/140b (7x4), but nobody stayed with him long enough to resist Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz, whose subtle variations earned him his best Test figures of 5/101.

The Australian attack is good at working its way through an batting lineup of variable quality like Pakistan's. While far from perfect, the Australian fielding was appreciably better than the sub- Test quality butterfingered Pakistan fielding (exemplified by the dropping of Shane Watson on 99).

Can Pakistan improve enough to beat Australia? Despite their deserved reputation for inconsistency it's difficult to see this happening. If Danish Kaneria comes into the side for Sydney the bowling should be stronger (especially if, repeat if, the fielding lifts. The batting on paper looks good but needs to be able to post totals much great than 250. As for Australia, Ricky Ponting hasn't had a big innings for some time....

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